Bangkok, Thailand: Wild life conservationist groups unveiled rare videos and photos of three new male Indochinese tigers taken in Thailand's western forest region, rekindling hopes of recovery for the endangered species just ahead of Wednesday's July 29 Global Tiger Day.
The footage and photos were captured by camera traps and mostly show the animals roaming at night. According to the conservationist groups, this is the first time the species has been seen in the this region of Thailand in four years. Kritsana Kaewplang, director of wild cat conservationist group Panthera's Thailand chapter, said the recent findings meant that the country's conservation efforts to preserve the species and its prey are on the right track.
"We are excited about this discovery, especially during this time around - all three tigers at once," said Kritsana, who works closely with the Thai government and other NGOs. Nang Ram Wildlife Research Center, which has a database of the tiger population for the entire country, said that they had confirmed that two of the new tigers captured on camera had travelled from the northern part of the forest region to the south, while the third tiger has never before been documented.
Kritsana still warned of a remaining active threat from poachers in the area. "They are not the typical local hunters in the area, they work as a network for the online market, as well as internationally - a poacher had travelled from neighbouring countries, catering to various orders. Therefore, we have to strengthen our conservation work because poaching and trading remain the tigers' main threat," said Kritsana.
According to Kritsana, there are currently only about 3,900 wild tigers in the world, with around 160 of them residing in Thailand.
The Indochinese Tiger is native to the region and can be found in Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and southwestern China.
